I think alot of us here got our soapstone simply because it's not polished to a shine and feels more natural. Can anyone back me up on this?

There were actually a few stones that I looked at that I considered installing upside down and then sanding down to a something less jaged.

You can have the polish honed off of most stones. That takes down the residual resin which makes the stone more porous, so you should be careful about which stone you choose to have honed.

I'm pretty sure Red Rock is mostly sandstone, so not really great for kitchens. There are some gorgeous red granites, however.

If the stones you've seen look too regular, try a high end stone yard on the snooty side of town. If the ordinary ones look like printed cloth, the really cool ones look like hand-dyed art cloth. Big difference. Beware of the marble and onyx. Marble isn't really practical unless you understand how usage will affect it, the kind of care it needs, and you still want it. Onyx is absolutely gorgeous but not strong enough for a horizontal work surface.

Keep looking! You're sure to find somehting you like.

Bobb,

I felt the same way. Then I found what I was looking for in a leathered or antiqued finish. It allows the natural reflections of the stone facets to reflect the light, without the uniform, glossy finish. Plus, with the slight texture it doesn't show every crumb, smudge or fingerprint, although when I clean, I have to be more diligent because spills aren't as noticable. I think there must be some variation in the level of texture, or maybe different stones take the leather treatment differently, because I have heard people say it was too textured to write on with only a single sheet of paper, but I have tried that and not had a problem.

Morgne, I have soapstone in a bathroom and love it too for its obviously natural patina and character. I am sure it is widely used, and has been for centuries, because of the combination of beauty and practicality!

We visited Moab last fall and it was one of the highlights of our entire Western US trip. Arches, Canyonlands... wish we had had more time there. We hope this fall to get to Bryce and Zion. The red rocks are amazing. But as plllog said, best left as natural art, or at least as vertical surfaces.

Some stones have good reason to be polished, and some k;tchens have good reason to have polished stone, and some people have good reason to prefer that look. And polished is not necessarily unnatural.

However, if you don't prefer that look, then as jrueter said, there are other options with granite. We bought the same thing that she has but ended up exchanging it for a different leathered stone for various reasons.

The options are confusing.... leathered, honed, brushed, riverwashed, satin, antiqued, maybe more. One supplier I talked to last week said that the boutique names may differ but often mean the same thing or close to it. But it doesn't have to be polished. These kinds of treatments really bring out the beauty of some particular stones, but may mute certain characteristics on other particular stones.